Our world is in peril. A terrorist group of militant feminists have gained access to a biological weapon of unimaginable horror, a weapon that threatens to spread across the world and change our society, forever and irrevocably… a weapon that changes men into women.

Nice premise. Where did it come from?
Well now. I remember years ago, back in my days of youthful unmarried innocence, I was sitting at the pub watching the womenfolk. As I sat back and ruminated upon how very single I was, I watched this one guy chatting up the birds at the bar, and seeming to do quite well for himself. “Man, the chicks have it easy,” I remember thinking. “I wish I could turn into a chick, then I’d have no trouble hooking up.” About three seconds’ worth of thinking along those lines led me to a reconsideration: “Nah. Imagine if all the OTHER guys turned into chicks…” And thus, a tale is born.

What genre is it?
Contemporary fictional humour.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Awesome readers! Readers who enjoy a laugh, a well-crafted tale, colourful characters and a whimsical glimpse of inter/intra-gender sociological interplay.

Complete this sentence for us: if you like _________________, you’ll love The Turning.
If you like the works of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Quentin Tarantino and/or Hunter S. Thompson, you’ll love my book.

Tell us a bit more about your main characters
Reuben is a twenty-something lad suffering a quarter-life crisis, miffed with his lot in life and yearning for change. Morrie is a no-holds-barred womaniser, he takes what comes with no compunctions and enjoys far more success with the womenfolk than Reuben feels he deserves. Mobo and Brie, star-crossed lovers, share a house with Reuben and Morrie, showering the neighbourhood with shouted evidence of their sexual chemistry and emerging for air only on very rare occasion… and Christo is a big, swarthy, Rugby-playing lad who has just woken up to discover he is now a lady.

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
The Turning is my first (proper) published work; I have another tale in the wings, just waiting for my writing mojo to resurface. We all hate the doldrums, I’m sure.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m an Aussie lad, husband to one, father of three. I spend my days supervising a highway construction site, my evenings supervising rowdy offspring, and my nights chasing much-needed sleep. I love writing, but I’m sorely in need of a few more hours in the day for it.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
I’ve been meaning to get one of those…

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
twitter: @barwellmark
facebook: www.facebook.com/markbarwellauthor.

What’s next?
Another tale of a world in chaos… because if the world’s not in chaos, I don’t want to write about it.